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I’m a Windows 7 Home x64 Group A person. Yesterday I installed KB4093118 after having previously installed Jan/Feb/Mar monthly security rollups and also KB4100480 and the revised KB4099950. I also installed the April Office 2010 security update. And the MSRT. The only thing I’ve noticed so far is that KB4093118 took forever to install, a good hour or so. But so far it looks like a successful install, except that my computer seems to run slower. Even updating Chrome took awhile. Haven’t tested Office yet.

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Running Windows 7 x64, Group A member
I’m patched thru February, and installed KB4100480 and original KB4099950.

MY WU shows KB4093118 checked and MSRT KB890830 checked.

What do I do regarding the following forum discussed KB’s

New KB4099950 (do I uninstall old, download from catalog the New; or uninstall the old, and April update KB4093118 will take care of installing the New; or simply install KB4093118 over the existing Old KB4099950)?
KB4100480 – leave as is? Or uninstall and let KB4093118 reinstall?
KB4099467 – Still needed? Part of KB4093118? or Obtain from catalog?

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PK – Pls confirm my reading of Woody’s article as not all is as clear as you may think:

Not having previously installed March KB4088875 or April KB4093118, but installing early KB4099950 and KB4100480:

KB4100480 is not addressed so leave it installed – correct?

Uninstall KB4099950, reboot and DON’T GO LOOKING FOR for additional patches, so assume we are not to look for or reinstall any KB4099950 catalog one or two-part patches – correct? This then assumes April KB4093118 contains the KB4099950 fix – correct?

No mention of the KB4099467 Stop Error patch. Confirm we don’t need it with cumulative April KB4093118 even if not ever previously installed.

Therefore, only need to uninstall KB4099950 and install the checked April KB4093118 – correct?

I’m not a computer expert (just play one on TV!) but in spite of the belief held that the BSOD fix KB4099467 is included in the April Rollup — the first time I logged off I got the Stop Error OXaB. Then I uninstalled the April Rollup. Then I re-installed the April Rollup – did not reboot – installed KB4099467 and rebooted. So far so good. So my experience is it’s necessary to have KB4099467 installed.

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Woody, have you considered holding back the announcement here of an article on Computerworld until you have posted it there? Announcing incoming articles leads to people asking questions about what they should do when the only reply one can sensibly give is to wait and read the article!

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I need to post a blog entry here in order to get a link to the blog entry.

Then I use the link in the last line of the Computerworld post.

Normally things happen pretty quickly, and nobody’s left in the lurch. This time, though, I was called away immediately after turning in the Computerworld article for edit, but before I had a Computerworld article address, for insertion back here on the blog.

Sorry about that!

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Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64 bit Group A (Intel Ivy Bridge 3rd generation)
Had rolled back my computer to December 2017 a couple weeks ago.
Only had Feb. and Jan. rollups to uninstall, never did anything with March updates.
On April 25, I installed KB4099950 msu file (downloaded from MS catalog)
rebooted my computer.
Then Installed KB4093118 (new revision date 4/23) through my WU.
Rebooted my computer.
All has been running just fine since. (touches wood)
Maybe a little slower.
Hard to tell because I have DSL.
I’m retired. I’m not in a hurry anymore.

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Best practice. Other people who are still not convinced of the best approach after too many pages of discussion on the subject related to KB4099950 should use this post as model for the update sequence. There are other good ways, but this is ideal.

remaining installed windows updates from this year (2018) are:
kb4056568, kb4054998 (january) and kb4074736, kb4088835 (february), some of them ie, i assume;
office 2010 updates from january and february, 2018-01 security-/quality rollup for .net (january only),
and of course msrt from january and february have been installed so far.

there are NO march updates installed at all, even no updates for office 2010 or msrt.

so how do i access this catalog? never used this way before. and after installing KB4099950 and rebooting,
should i install Apr 2018 KB 4093108 and Apr 2018 (IE11) KB 4092946 before searching for updates?
these two updates are listed for april in article 2000003.

The MS Update Catalog is here. Type the number (without “KB”) in the search box. Be sure you get the right version of Windows – 64-bit will have x64 in the name, 32-bit will have x86. For KB 4099950, there will be two files, download both and double click only on the .msu file. it will execute the script in the .exe file.

are there any more problems to expect (bluescreens or anything else) or have these been fixed?

if not, i will try patching tomorrow following your advice in this order:
install windows6.1-kb4099950-x64_245d5aaf7d50587297825f9176be166c47ad10f7.msu
reboot
install Apr 2018 KB 4093108
install Apr 2018 (IE11) KB 4092946
reboot
search for updates
install all office 2010 updates, msrt, .net,… from both march and april.
if there are any more important windows updates available at this point, i will mention them here first, to be safe.
i will ask further, which one of these remaining windows updates i should install and which one i should not install.

so i still have to install buggy march security only update? i was hoping, not having to do so. what about february and january security only updates which i have uninstalled on susan’s advice in order to rollback? do i have to install these again? now it’s really getting complicated…

Because of having to get past buggy, bsod-threatening march security only update, I’m not so sure anymore if I really am able to do this epic mega update-session. this is very much. maybe too much for me, as march patch might be a game-stopper and system killer. i’m really panicking!!! and I have to install these three january/februar patches again, because I did rollback too quickly. Now I’m seriously thinking about staying group w on december 2017 patch state…

And as I mentioned, I would have to rely on system restore points only, as I don’t have enough space or an additional harddrive which is necessary for being able to do a full system image.

What an mess!!! I really panic!

Is there still no fixed and clean version available of disastrous march security only update in late april, after almost two months after initial release?

I did a topic on Group B updating at Recovering From 2018 Updating for Win 7 Group B just to review what I understand and tried regarding updating through April. I’m not an expert, but did a lot of review of posts and Microsoft support pages… and managed to update with no issues. Maybe it will help some people, or they can report their different method, and results, without getting confused with Group A.

Finally I installed all 2018 updates today, following this order (still group b):

kb4099950
reboot
Jan 2018 KB 4056897, Jan 2018 KB 4073578
Feb 2018 KB 4074587
Mar 2018 KB 4088878
Apr 2018 KB 4093108
Apr 2018 (IE11) KB 4092946
reboot
remaining office 2010 updates from march, april
latest msrt
Now, I’ll have to watch how the system is behaving… when was this bsod expected? right after installing march update and reboot?
Being up to date with all security only updates jan-apr, system should now be safe regarding meltdown, total meltdown and so on, I assume?

There are still .net updates available, both are optional, so i should NOT install them, I assume?
kb4076492: 2018-02 security- qualityrollup .net framework 3.5.1.1, 4.5.2, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1
kb4033342: microsoft .net framework 4.7.1
Similar situation on notebook with windows 8.1, there are also optional .net updates available which I didn’t install yet.

jan/feb office updates have been installed already, prior to rollback to december state.

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I have the 4 combinations W7 and W8.1 in both 32 bit and 64 bit variants and the only combination which has given me a noticeable problem with the April 2018 security updates is W8.1 32 bit with the sandboxing program Sandboxie.

I have commented about this in several AskWoody threads at different times the last couple of weeks and this issue is best summarised here:

HTH W8.1 32 bit Sandboxie users (if there any any of you out there?). Garbo.

PS: The Windows Explorer “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FolderDescriptions” Registry problem which for me seems to be re-introduced by a Windows update every few months did not re-appear this month.

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I didn’t roll back to December but instead installed KB4100480.
I skipped the March roll-up but did install the March Office updates.
On April 18 I installed the latest version of KB4099950 from the Catalog.

Today I installed the April roll-up KB4093118 and it all seemed to go well. It took a little longer to download since it had both the March and April updates, but nothing extraordinary.
The pci.sys file version shown in C:\Windows\System32\drivers is 6.1.7601.24056 and I haven’t had any network problems.

I’ve rebooted a couple of times and so far at least I haven’t encountered any problems or system slowness. Keeping my fingers crossed that things stay stable!

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Woody has not mentioned the fix for the Stop Error OxAB – KB40999467. I’m Group A, Win7 64bit SvcPk1. Is 40999467 included in the April Rollup or should I install separately. I’m the lucky one who gets the BSOD.

( BTW, I checked my installed updates and it did not show 40999467 as installed even though I installed it when I installed previously the April Rollup. Since 40999467 showed in my Update History but not in the installed updates could that be why I got the BSOD? I have uninstalled the April Rollup so am now ready to reinstall but need to know what to do about Stop Error OxAB 40999467).

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Bless you for the speedy response. That is what I’ll do. I’m terrified of the BSOD even though it corrects itself. All the best to everyone here who is so generous and helpful. Here goes (holding her nose!) 🙂

After I downloaded the April Rollup I did not get an opportunity to pause it so I could install 4099467. Didn’t get the choice to pause the reboot. I guess I’ll have to just install the April rollup and hope that the BSOD fix is included. The strange thing is that I don’t have the BSOD problem right away — takes a day or so. Nobody else here seems to have this problem. Lucky Me!

@PKCano
Maybe it’s my setting:check for updates but let me choose? What’s happening is I choose to download the April Rollup and then immediately it’s starting to install – so I checked the stop the installation button and that didn’t pause it — it deleted it. I’m not getting the button that says install later. Can you direct me? Thanks!

Click install to install the April Rollup.
It downloads and installs in Windows Update.
When the April Rollup finishes installing there is a button that says “Restart…”DON’T click it.
Click on and install the manual update 4099467.
When it finishes installing, then click “Restart”

@PKCano
BINGO!!! I feel so foolish. Thank you so very much for sticking with me until I understood. My mistake was when I saw it saying it was installing I panicked — and after reading your last post realized that it installs and then it’s not installed until I hit the reboot. I did it correctly
However the stop error KB4099467 kept “searching for updates on this computer” endlessly which leads me to conclude that it’s included in the April rollup. So I aborted that and just have the April Rollup installed.
I really can’t thank you enough for not giving up on me!!!!! I now have this skill down and many more to go. Big (((hugs))) to you and all the patient folks on this blog.

I installed both KB4100480 and KB4093118 on my two Windows 7 x64 desktops, one on 23rd April and the other on 24th April. Both were offered as important and checked.

The updates installed ok on both machines which are running normally, if anything a little quicker although I’m not clear on that – but they’re certainly not running slower. I hadn’t previously installed the March monthly update, and hadn’t installed KB4099950 which was originally offered in March as unchecked and optional, although it was offered in April as checked and optional but subsequently withdrawn.

As things stand, I will take some convincing that I need to uninstall the April updates and start over, especially given that both machines are running well with the updates offered by Microsoft satisfactorily installed. However, I shall continue to watch this space…

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Same for me, I installed 4100480 and 4093118 through WU on the 23rd of April, after Woody’s article on the same day concerning Meltdown. I had understood that this version of 4093118 was Ok. Must I uninstall it ?

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Thanks Woody for the clarification. What will have caused some consternation, I’m sure, is the advice in the article that if you have already installed KB4093118 before today’s article then you need to uninstall and reinstall it. You’re now saying that isn’t necessarily the case, but do we know what the cut-off point was when the recommended version of the update was put out?

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Thanks for the clarification. I too installed KB 4093118 when you suggested. Things are working and there are no nagging messages asking me to install stuff in WU for a change. Life is grand…until next patch day. 🙂

Those of us in Group B who are sitting at the December 2017 patch level, can we install ONLY the April security-only patch and skip over Jan/Feb/March entirely? Does the April security-only patch include the Spectre/Meltdown mitigations (and all of the attendant problems caused therein)?

Security-only patches are NOT cumulative. Any you do not install are fixes that you do not get. The patches contain other fixes beside those for Meltdown/Specter . SO you will be vulnerable for anything contained in the updates you do not install.

In other words, you need all the patches as well as the IE11 Cumulative Update.

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I don’t see the benefit of installing the January, February, and March SO patches on a Windows 64-bit system even if there are other security fixes included since it makes you vulnerable to the total meltdown exploit. Has MS confirmed that the April security patch fixes the total meltdown issue?

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Though I’m grateful for the helpfulness of the folks on this forum, I’m still not entirely confident that the steps I personally took in updating my machine are securing it. I just wonder what the next several months of Win 7 support will bring us – hopefully not more of the same havoc with the recent Meltdown bug!! It’s getting to the point where I’m afraid to use my old jalopy. ?

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Bottom line, followed the MS instructions on kb4099950, never removed the March SO patch, kb4088878. Do have the latest pci.sys file version. Assume I’m good to go for the April updates?

On the one hand you suggest that Group B is becoming untenable while on the other you are guessing that MS data collection on Win7 might nearly rival Win10 data collection if using rollups. Nothing that tricky about group B from this chair and I’m just borderline literate. If you asked me to run scripts, THEN I’d bail! 😉

Regarding Group B, lately you’d need to be Kreskin to know what MS is doing as it appears they don’t. Correct me if I’m wrong but it’s my impression that in general the Security Only updates have been far less problematic than the rollups since patchocalypse. And after a .Net rollup messed with graphics software, but the Security Only .Net update didn’t, will only be installing those as needed as well.

PS. Regarding the poster who lost her webmail after installing the April MSRT, my machine had no issue but took 5+ minutes to create a restore point using Windows Update for the install, and not combined with any other update. This machine is pretty zippy too, so perhaps that’s a clue?

This is weird I just checked WU and all of these updates are now gone! So, please disregard this post.

Win 7 sp1 x64

I read Woody’s article and decide to follow his advice. The uninstall of Aprils’s rollup and KB 4099950 went fine. I didn’t install the March rollup. then rebooted and searched for new updates. the April rollup showed up along with 8 security updates- KB2862152,3004361,3022777,3076895,3084135,3092601,3101722 and 3161958.

In addition there are 3 updates KB2888049,3092627,3181988.

Has anyone experienced this? Can a MVP give me a clue what these might be. I didn’t expect this.

I had a similat experience. The Rollups are cumulative, and, they supersede some old patches as well. You uninstalled April’s and you hadn’t installed March’s. But when you uninstall a cumulative update, you install A BUNCH of stuff. So some of the old superseded updates showed back up. You will find that those are all old.

Look at the list of installed updates. You may be missing stuff back to Sept 2017 (I was). So, just go ahead and install everything that is CHECKED (except 2095664 telemetry) and Windows update will sort it all out.

I install based on the list kept here, but after all these cross-posts, interlocked warnings and contradictory instructions in three or more places, I no longer know if the updates here are the latest-and-safest.

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Group A….I followed Woody’s advice and uninstalled 4099950, which was the new version released 4/17 and then installed 4093118 today. I just see 4093118 listed in the installed updates, so I hope it was included in the rollup.

windows 7 64 bit group b, do i have to install any patches prior to april updates? on susan’s advice i did rollback to december, uninstalled three windows updates: kb4074587 (february), kb4073578 (january), kb4056897 (january) ….

I’m in the Group B no 2018 club as well. I don’t believe we “have to” install the April updates yet… there are still some issues. And I’m considering holding off a bit longer.

Nonetheless, the list of pending updates (not to mention their install order) is getting a bit long. Here’s what I’ve compiled according to what’s been posted here on AskWoody this year:

0. Create a system image* and then ensure the Set AV Compat reg key is properly set. Hide the all Previews and Security Monthlies for 2018: so all the proper updates show up in Windows Update (per MrBrian’s research.)

(You’ll have to do this first for the ones for April; then ‘check for updates.’ Repeat… )

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Just when I thought I understood everything… Am I wrong in thinking that Woody’s article for GroupA win7 64bit tells us to uninstall KB4099950 and only install the April rollup? Maybe the instructions here where people say to install KB4099950 are for the GroupB people? Please let me know if I need to install KB4099950. thanks!

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@Peacelady
I love your quote!! May I add “Nothing difficult was ever easy”! From everything I have read and followed, I ‘think’ you will be just fine. (But don’t hold me to that, I only know what I know!) 🙂

A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. --John Augustus Shedd

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@Individualist
Ditto for your quote. This has been an ordeal for all of us. Looking forward to deleting all of my copious KB# notes for April and starting hopefully fresh in May. I’ve enjoyed “meeting you” and all the other loungers. It’s been a day and a half and I’m signing off — Night Night To All! ?❤?

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Oops! No rest for the weary. Spoke too soon. This time got the Stop Error OxAB the very first time I logged off. I’m at a total loss as it appears no one else has this problem. Should I once again uninstall the April Rollup? Should I get my local computer company to take a look? 🙁

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@StruldBrug
Many thanks for your reply. I tried once more and this time I was successful in doing the correct install in the correct order: (After I first uninstalled the April Rollup) I re-installed the April Rollup – No reboot – Installed the BSOD patch KB4099467 and rebooted. Tried the log off and so far so good. Thanks again for the support.

It’s not the worst kind of BSOD. You get a screen comparable to when it says your computer didn’t log of correctly and it says if you wait a minute it logs off. You can choose safe mode or just let the computer log off. I’m not using the correct terminology but i hope you can follow what I’m saying. It’s not a complete computer disaster but it scares me!

I’ve been following your adventures in trying to fix this issue. Being the non-techy I am, I’ve had my own unexplainable oopsies, and it sends shivers down my spine to think of going through such a thing. I hesitate to make things worse for you, or send you down another dead end…

However, in researching my own Group B updating I found that there continues to be a bug identified by Microsoft, described as:

KB4099467 fixes “A Stop error occurs if this update is applied to a 32-Bit (x86) machine with the Physical Address Extension (PAE) mode disabled”, but not the SSE2 issue.

Is it possible that you have one of those relatively rare processors that can’t support SSE2?

If so, Microsoft says, “Microsoft is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.”

The problem with SSE2 was introduced in the March updates, but continues to be unresolved in the April updates. It exists in both the Monthly Rollup, and the Security Only updates. This would be a reason to temporarily pause updating at the Feburary patches, and wait for Microsoft to fix it… It only took three months to fix the Total Meltdown issue that affected everyone patching Windows 7 in 2018… there are many fewer people with this particular problem. It is a good example of why updates should be offered separately from the rollups, so that people in these situations could apply other security fixes while awaiting resolution for this particular issue.

None of this may apply… just noted the curious similarities… and passing on the info.

Your patience is commendable, and I hope the problem is resolved soon, whatever the cause.

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Hi DrBonzo,
Thank you so much for the text below! I’m still getting the Stop error message intermittently. Would “fixing” this file Win32k sys be above my pay grade as a non-techie? I’m not adverse once we can understand the whole problem to calling in my Professional Computer fix-it man. Thanks so much for jumping in here. Any tutorials are greatly appreciated!

BTW, what I get is first a blue screen and then a black screen that says “windows did not shut down successfully” and then I choose the option “start windows normally” and then it logs off ok. Maybe this is not the worst kind of BSOD and I should just chill out and wait for Microsoft to straighten it out? What I am getting at is since the computer doesn’t really crash is this the kind of Stop error that never gets worse (worse being a complete computer failure)? Thanks again to everyone trying to help me!

“After you install this update, you may receive a Stop error message that resembles the following when you log off the computer:
SESSION_HAS_VALID_POOL_ON_EXIT (ab)”

I’m not sure I can be much help here, but I can tell you what I did while still managing to have a properly functioning computer.

Installed 4100480 on April 1. Don’t remember if I rebooted or not but did whatever the dialog box said.

Installed 4099950 on April 8 from Windows Update, no reboot, followed immediately by installing 4088878 but with no reboot even though one was requested, followed immediately with installing 4099467, after which I rebooted.

Everything worked and has continued to work. Last night I ran the .exe file that now appears in the post-April 17 version of 4099950 and then installed 4093108 followed by a reboot. Everything still works.

I cannot thank you enough for your herculean efforts to help me! When I read your posts I’m struck by how knowledgeable you are — I have so much to learn here.

When I first was getting the BSOD I Googled how to tell what the particular BSOD is if the page is gone before you can read it. It was: SESSION_HAS_VALID_POOL_ON_EXIT 0x000000ab Session unload occurred while a session driver still held memory caused by nfoskrnl.exe.

Now under all of my notes, surprisingly I had written: Support SSE2? So you may be on to something! Can you tell me how and where to find out if I have the offending processor?

Although, KB4099467 does seem to be alleviating the BSOD problem – however, I have a 64bit computer, not a 32-bit so this is perplexing….

One more thought: The first time I installed the KB4099467 fix I was unable to do it properly — first the April Rollup – no reboot – then KB40999467 and reboot. But last night I got so disgusted with myself that I vowed to get it right — with a lot of coaching and hand-holding from PKCano (thank you!!!!) I won’t be completely sure that I’m completely out of the woods until a few more days go by as this has been an intermittent occurrence.

Sorry for the long and winding post. I only hope that in time I will learn enough to be able to help others as all of you have done. It is so comforting to come to this place to get answers.

Once installed, run it; you’ll first see a “Summary” of your computer. If you then click on “CPU” (in the left margin), you’ll see much information. Look for “Instructions” in the left column, and you’ll see if ‘SSE2’ is included in the list.

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Thanks so much for your suggestion of using Speccy. I’m sure that it would do the trick. I used ccleaner in the past and loved it but deleted it after the mess up they had with security. I’m probably overly “security conscious” — truth be told, I prefer the filing cabinet with a hard copy of anything important rather than having it on my computer. (All my friends and family laughed at me when I would not join Facebook — I just felt intuitively that it was not safe.) But enough about me — thanks very much for trying to help me – you are very kind and I wish I had the courage to take advantage of it 🙂

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Thank you very much anonymous – I have written this down so in the future I’ll know about my Processor. I don’t know how you guys know this stuff — but I’m sure grateful that you do and that you share!

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Thanks so very much — this is actually what I suspected since when the patch was uninstalled I never had the problem.

I looked at the Event Viewer and the explanation was: “The System has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused by the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly. Source: Kernel Power Event 41”.

As mentioned before, this only occurs once in awhile. I am very grateful to you for sticking with me on this especially since it seems like I’m the only one experiencing this. Do others log off – or maybe they just use sleep or hybernate?

My main question now is with this kind of BSOD, will it ever cause a complete breakdown of my computer to where I cannot restart it? Or just the blip and then the computer resumes? Because it would take a lot of worry away if I knew that this would not get worse.

Elly, I so much appreciate all the time and effort you have put in to help me. If this in any way gets to be too frustrating or time consuming for you please don’t be shy to let me know. In the meantime I have learned how to find out my processor — so all is not lost!

Woody, I wonder why you talk about staying on 1607. I just left 1607 for 1703 because I thought I wouldn’t get any more security patches since it is out of support unless you have Enterprise or Education edition I thought.

By the way, after installing 1703, my system says it is up to date but I only see two patches installed in the history. If I click on installed updates in programs and features, all I see is KB4053580 and KB4022405. Windows update says I am up to date. I didn’t touch the system after the feature upgrade but the 1607 I upgraded was heavily tweaked to prevent snooping and other annoyances. I wonder if I miss some patches? While upgrading, the system looked up online to what I think would be download patches released after the initial release of 1703.

Yes, the key is set and I would bet it was set before the feature upgrade. I was getting patches on 1607 until I upgraded.

What I find disconcerting is if I didn’t have the intuition to verify the patching state, I could have thought I am fully patched against Meltdown and Spectre. This is pretty bad.

Not that in some way it is not better to be at December patch level, but I would like to know and not quickly looking at Windows update thinking I am fully patched while I am not, especially on a version that has been stable for a long time like 1703.

I wonder if the fact that on 1607 initially I had set group policies to delay 30 days quality updates might have an impact. Now it says I won’t get any update until May 26. I guess on 1607, it applied the policy once, waited 35 days and then ignored it for the whole time I used it and now it is reset again on this new install, maybe? That would mean two things: group policy needs to be somehow reset every 35 days or so to work and if set on a feature upgrade, it is taken into consideration again once.

I have mine set to 365 for feature and 0 for quality updates. That way I see them when they come out.
And in GP I have WU set to Auto Upd = Enabled “2” – notify download, install, so they won’t hit me when I’m not looking. They sit in the queue and wait for me to click “Download”

I looked at my GP and it is set to 180 days, but quality to 5 (I thought I had put 30, but I guess I thought 5 was enough for me to see them and decide what I want to do). I also have the other parameter set to 3, download but notify to install. I never got forced to install 1703 until I decided to do so. It was just nagging me every day on 1607 but I closed the update window and I was fine so I could do work and not be interrupted when I wasn’t ready.

So it is weird it says quality updates and features updates are interrupted until the 26 of May in Windows update’s advanced options, although I didn’t touch anything. Everything is greyed out of course because I used GP to set all this. This is much more than 5 days, but much less than 180 days. I installed the feature update on April 21, so it looks like May 26th is exactly 35 days.

Addon:
Now I tried changing the GP parameters to something else and they stay at the old value in the settings panel, greyed out (180 days instead of the new value 181, 5 days instead of the new value 1). I restarted, applied gpupdate /force, nothing works. This is getting weirder. I have no tweaking application or anything of that sort installed. Everything I have done should be supported by Microsoft. I tried disabling the policies, gpupdate, re-enabling with new values, gpupdate, nothing. Everything is greyed out and stuck at old values. Like as if during the feature install, Windows decided it would applied the 35 days delay for everything (that weird message about feature updates and quality updates being interrupted until May 26th) and would ignore everything I would do. I couldn’t even make the parameters not greyed out anymore in the settings panel. Strange. Someone here mentioned a corruption of group policies when going from a version to another a long time ago. I wonder if that could be what is happening here. In any case, this messes up anything you thought was supposed to happen when you properly have your GPs set and then you get a feature update. No wonder parameters don’t seem to be respected by Microsoft. I have the feeling it might be a good idea to clean the GP and reinstall them after a feature upgrade.

I have a question about Woody’s article and the steps to determine what Win7 Group A should do before installing the April Monthly Rollup, KB4093118.

The link in Woody’s article to abbodi86’s response to Question 1 says, “Yes, current revised WU KB4093118 (or running directly from MSU file) eliminate the need for KB4099950, with one condition: March Rollups or first release of WU KB4093118 must not installed before”.

In the next paragraph of Woody’s article, Step 1 says to “Check your update history to see if you have already installed this month’s Win7/Server 2008 R2 Monthly Rollup, KB 4093118. If you haven’t installed KB 4093118, you’re fine; proceed with the next section to install the April Monthly Rollup, KB 4093118”. Does this mean steps 2, 2a, 2b, and 3 only apply to those who DID install the April Monthly Rollup, KB4093118?

What about the other half of abbodi86’s condition with regards to “March Rollups”? For those that DID NOT install the April Monthly Rollup, KB 4093118, but you DID install the March Monthly Rollup, KB 4088875, are there any special steps (like 2a or 2b) that need to be taken before installing the April Monthly Rollup, KB 4093118?

Are we sure that is what Woody is saying in his ComputerWorld article?

In Step 1. under the section entitled “The ongoing Win7/Server 2008 R2 nightmare” Woody writes, “If you haven’t installed KB 4093118, you’re fine; proceed with the next section to install the April Monthly Rollup, KB 4093118.” Focusing on the word “section”, I interpreted this sentence to mean we should go to the next section of the article, not the immediately following Step 2. The next section is entitled “Windows 10” followed by a section entitled “Office” followed by “Windows 7/Server 2008 R2.”

I am not at all certain that my interpretation is correct, but if it is then if KB 4093118 was never isntalled presumabley Steps 2, 2a, and 2b are not necessary.

seem to conclude that it is not necessary to uninstall KB4099950 before installing KB4093118.

I have always been in Group A, did not install the March rollup, and as of yet have not installed any version of KB4093118. I did install KB4099950 on April 10 and I am concerned, perhaps unduly, that uninstalling it may cause problems.

“Step 1. Check your update history to see if you have already installed this month’s Win7/Server 2008 R2 Monthly Rollup, KB 4093118. If you haven’t installed KB 4093118, you’re fine; proceed with the next section to install the April Monthly Rollup, KB 4093118.”

Those that had installed KB 4093118 were directed to uninstall, but the part about proceeding to install the April Monthly Rollup, KB 4093118 applies to your situation.

Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter

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Based on your “If any of that applies to you, do it” advice and the other AskWoody posts, this seems to be the approach Woody intended. I just didn’t want to uninstall patches if it wasn’t necessary. When unistalling a patch, should it be done in Safe Mode or Normal Mode?

Also, I installed KB 4099467 (STOP 0xAB log off fix) just after installing KB 4088875. Does it too need to be uninstalled before installing KB 4093118?

OK, here I go into into some unfortunately necessary redundancy — for which I apologize profusely:

First of all, I am Group B, Windows 7 SP1, x64, Intel I-7.

Second, I have installed everything through March, including the old version of kb4099950.

Third, concerning what to do, because I have installed old kb4099950, there are three possible plans of action that have been proposed by different people of weighty opinion and good character in Woody’s:

Plan A:

Uninstall old kb4099950, then install new Kb4099950. Finish it by installing the April Security Only.

Plan B:

Uninstall old kb4099950; uninstall March Security Only; install back, in this order, kb4099950; Security Only (with some reboots). Finish it by installing April Security Only.

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Win7 Home SP1 x64 Group A. I did uninstall and reinstall KB4099950 after having installed the March rollup and KB4100480. And then I installed the April KB4093118 rollup. Should I have uninstalled March or does it really matter if April should supersede everything else before?

NOTE: As far as I could see when I read it, there is nothing in Woddy’s “Computerworld” that explains this.

@OscarCP, I’m in the same “boat.” But after I read the following in Woody’s CW article, I’m leaning toward your Plan C. Woody’s quote, near the end of the Windows 7 section:

“For those of you who are spitting in the patching god’s face and manually installing Security Only patches (the “Group B” approach), I wish you well and point you to @abbodi86’s instructions here. #187509

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That it all depends on whether one updated the “bad” earlier version of kb4099950 directly from the Catalogue, or got it from Windows Update.

There was no “bad” earlier version of KB4099950 from the Catalog. The only “bad” KB4099950 was an earlier version from Windows Update . . .

And that’s why I’m basing my “read” on abbodi’s comment: because you and I each installed the non-problematic KB4099950 from the Catalog [“If you installed KB4099950 directly from MSU file since the beginning, then you don’t need to change/uninstall anything”]

I also agree with SueW. I’m in exactly the same situation. On the 8 April 2018, I installed the first release of KB4099950 (downloaded from the Catalog) before installing KB4088878, the March security only update. By all appearances, everything has worked as it should.

PCIClearStaleCache.txt tells me that the PCI SlotPersistentInfo registry keys have been deleted. And KB4088878 left pci.sys at the 6.1.7601.24056 level. So I am planning to leave everything as it is before installing the April updates.

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Group A….Does 4093118 include 4099950 or not ?? I uninstalled it before installing 4093118 as per Woody’s instructions. Do I need to uninstall 4093118 and then reinstall 4099950 or am I good ??? <<< Confused still.

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I want to thank Woody for that fantastic Computerworld article explaining how to apply the April patches. I have Windows 7 64-bit Lenova desktop computer (Service 1). I followed his instructions to the “T”. I have been sitting on the April updates waiting for the MS-Defcon # to change.

I uninstalled KB4099950 (because I originally installed it on 4/7/18), and KB4088875 (because you have to install KB4099950 before installing KB4088875). Got a little nervous because it took my computer around 50 minutes to configure Windows after uninstalling. Then I installed the MS Office Updates – KB4011717, KB4018355, KB4018353, and KB4018354. Good so far. I finally installed KB890830, KB4093118, and KB2952664 successfully, and I am happy to say that my computer seems just fine!

Again, thank you Woody! I appear to be set until May Updates. Ugh!

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Update: I discovered after installing the updates that I couldn’t access my Yahoo mail and AOL mail accounts. Said the site wasn’t certified. I think it had something to do with KB890830 Malicious Software Removal Tool. So I uninstalled this update and then hid it. Everything is fine now. So if you have any doubt about whether you will use this, just hide it, don’t install it.

I uninstalled KB4099950 (because I originally installed it on 4/7/18), and KB4088875 (because you have to install KB4099950 before installing KB4088875). Got a little nervous because it took my computer around 50 minutes to configure Windows after uninstalling.

Thank you for posting this observation. I followed Woody’s instructions and likewise uninstalled the March Monthly Rollup KB 4088875 and KB 4099950. I was glad to know your experience going in, because “Configuring Updates” did take about 55 minutes for me.

According to the Master Patch List, Note 1, the April W7 Rollup KB4093118 was re-released on April 12 to correct the static IP issue. So, for those of us that installed 4093118 on April 23 per Woody’s article that day, is it really necessary to uninstall/ reinstall? In my case, I skipped the March roll up and didn’t install 4099950. System working OK so far.

Ironically, I just switched from Group B to A to simplify my life. So far not working as hoped.

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Say you are patched up to December 2017 on Windows 7 SP1 x64.
After reading A LOT here and several Microsoft release notes,
is the sequence below this question the proper way to patch
the system up to March 2018 as member of Group B?

By the way, KB4099950 has 2 files, the normal .msu and a pciclearstalecache_1c944f48bfb21d88a2054683abcd02327ecf6b37.exe.
Executing only the .msu file is enough or both are needed, and if it’s so, in which order?

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@ozbadcat: Thanks for the reminder. I’m afraid I have to check my CPUs, since KB4093108 can BSOD Win 7 if there is no support for SSE2.@Elly: Really great post. About the reboots, I “like” to do them to pinpoint which upgrade messes things up.@MrBrian: Thank you for your advice. I always thought not rebooting could be more problematic or as I said to @Elly more difficult to know which upgrade was the culprit if anything goes wrong. Regarding KB4073578, I don’t have AMD CPUs, so I don’t know if it is better to do that.

Say you are patched up to December 2017 on Windows 7 SP1 x64. After reading A LOT here and several Microsoft release notes, is the sequence below this question the proper way to patch the system up to March 2018 as member of Group B? 1) KB4056897 (2018-01 Security Only) and REBOOT 2) KB4074587 (2018-02 Security Only) and REBOOT 3) KB4099950 (NICs / static IP address fix) and REBOOT 4) KB4088878 (2018-03 Security Only) 5) KB4099467 (STOP 0xAB log off fix) then REBOOT 6) KB4100480 (Total Meltdown! patch) and REBOOT 7) KB4096040 (Cumulative IE11 fixes) and REBOOT By the way, KB4099950 has 2 files, the normal .msu and a pciclearstalecache_1c944f48bfb21d88a2054683abcd02327ecf6b37.exe. Executing only the .msu file is enough or both are needed, and if it’s so, in which order? Thank you.

Hello Ozbadcat, Your order looks good but you need to get April’s 4093108.

As I understand it, with all the talk here on differing forums, MrBrian,PKCano, and CH100 the 4099467 and 4100480 are not needed because 4093108 covers it.

I installed in this order. This has worked for me for years with IE being first and MSRT being last. All patches are from the Microsoft Catalog and downloaded the day of the install
(which should be today for you).

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Thank you so much! You finally answered the question I had about whether KB4099467 was being included in the Group B Security Only Update KB 4093108. I only had two questions and that was the second one. Now I should be good to go. Whew! 🙂

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KB2952664 appeared in my checked important updates. Unchecked and hid it. WIN7x64, AMD. My remaining six important updates installed and the OS is up and running fine. WUS disabled for another month to see what the MS circus brings us.

After reading through all of this and the Computer World article, I’m glad I skipped any March updates. Simply uninstalled KB4099950 and installed KB4093118. Windows Updates at ” Never Check”. All good. Win 7 Pro x64 Grp. A

On a more pedestrian note than the W7 drama, has anyone installed the April Office 3013 security update KB4018288? I have been trying to determine if the update actually causes Excel to crash when opening/saving worksheets with embedded charts. I cannot find any issue acknowledgement from MS for this update and some of what I have turned up might indicate that, if there is an issue, it might be in the 32 bit version of the patch. I have not yet installed the update as I can’t find out if there really is a problem or its some isolated situation. If anyone has any info to offer, I would appreciate hearing about it.

(Windows 7 Pro, 64 – Group A) I have been a faithful follower of the DEFCON system for over a year, and have learned much from Woody and his team. The last Security Monthly Quality Rollup I installed was KB4074598 on 3/5/18. That was followed by Security Update KB4100480 on 4/9/18. KB4093118 does not show up on WU important or optional. Did I miss something?

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I truly hate to repeat items already listed above, but…..I am win7 group A and I did not install Marches patches except for Office patches. I did not rush to install 4093118 or 4100480 or any others mentioned above at anytime during April. Today I updated all Office patches and only 4093118 only! And forgot to install Total Meltdown 4100480. Office patches installed fine but 4093118 did not install and I had to retry and the second time it installed fine. Then I did another check for updates to install 4100480 and it was NOT offered to me this time. Does that mean it was rolled in to 4093118 (dated 23 apr 2018)? I am not a computer savey person just one that follows Woody.

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@PKCano: Thank you again, for reiterating so much of this very complex information. You and others have done a tremendous problem in helping all of us here, and we are very, very fortunate to have you all!! “)

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Alas, it’s a chicken and egg situation. I need to post a blog entry here in order to get a link to the blog entry. Then I use the link in the last line of the Computerworld post. Normally things happen pretty quickly, and nobody’s left in the lurch. This time, though, I was called away immediately after turning in the Computerworld article for edit, but before I had a Computerworld article address, for insertion back here on the blog. Sorry about that!

If it’s just a matter of cross-linking, then why don’t you just block comments here until you’ve edited your originl post to include the missing link? Just saying… 🙂

I’m one of the Group B folks who chose to install KB 4100480 in late March, rather than roll back to December. (But I didn’t install the March Win7 or IE updates, nor did I install KB 4099950.)

Elly, on the other hand, is a knowledgeable Group B-er who chose to roll back to December, and she’s just posted a Lounge thread (previously linked in this thread) where she describes the steps she took to update herself (through April), Group B style.

I’ve just followed what I took to be the right steps for the March updates for a Group B-er in my position, and I figured Elly’s thread was as good a place as any to file my report, and here’s the link:

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Win7, 64bit, Home, stayed with Dec 2017 and stopped there. Been running fine but now I’m concerned, wondering should I install the latest and past security related updates? I don’t use IE at all and never have, just Chrome or Safari. Norton seems to be handling everything in the way of protection, but my fear is what does it look like down the road as I sit in waiting?

Hello Willygirl, You did not mention what Group you are in A or B. Since you are at December if Group B, install the Security Only updates for Jan, Feb with a reboot in between, then then see #188364 above and you should be fine. The IE11 updates are cumulative so only the last one is needed and that is April kb4092946.

Applied all the March patches with much research, precautions, and all seems to be well. Theank you, Woody, MVP’s and all others.

However, running Gibson’s version 8 InSpectre reveals that, after checking Iintel’s “Microcode Revision Guidance” (man, does THAT sound like DoubleSpeak) .pdf sheet, I find that although my “Ivy Bridge” patch is available for use “in a production environment”, I’m still vulnerable to InSpectre. Is MSFT going to incorporate this in May patches?

Also, Steve Gibson’s program does not specify if it detects “Total Meltdown” vulnerability as part of Meltdown or not. Anyone know? Got an email in to him, but he, like all of us, is swimming in all this muck and much more, and I don’t expect to hear from him anytime soon.

(I am old enough to remember when I didn’t do stuff like this on Sat. night, but, “O Tempora, O Moses!” [Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

O, my head.

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit ESU, Dell Latitude E6330, Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", Group "Patch List", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations, "Don't auto-check for updates-Full Manual Mode."
--"A committee is the only known form of life that has at least six legs and no brain."

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I am Win 7 x64, Group A (ie average non-tech user,). I downloaded and installed KB4093118 April roll-up this morning and it appears to have been successful, although it took ages. The pci.sys version was updated to the …24056.

However, my computer on startup now gives me the ‘failed to connect to the system event notification service’ although the system event notification service is shown as running and set to automatic. I have tried the netsh winsock reset method without success (I’ve used that before and it worked).

So, my question is whether KB4093118 could have caused this problem (unlikely, but who knows nowadays). In any event, could someone provide me with a non-tech solution to my system event notification service problem.

GeoffB, let’s stay here a bit longer. Regarding your post #188520, I think likely a conflict did occur between K4099950 and KB4093118, regarding the NIC fix. Go to installed updates and uninstall KB4099950, then restart. If the error doesn’t appear, count yourself lucky. Else, if it appears again, uninstall KB4093118, then restart. Download and install KB4093118 msu from the MS Catalog. Put it on your desktop and double click it to install. Afterward, restart and see if the error persists.https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4093118

GeoffB, let’s stay here a bit longer. Regarding your post #188520, I think likely a conflict did occur between K4099950 and KB4093118, regarding the NIC fix. Go to installed updates and uninstall KB4099950, then restart. If the error doesn’t appear, count yourself lucky. Else, if it appears again, uninstall KB4093118, then restart. Download and install KB4093118 msu from the MS Catalog. Put it on your desktop and double click it to install. Afterward, restart and see if the error persists. https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4093118

Ok, I’ve made some progress! I uninstalled KB 4099950 but no joy, although pc speed improved. So, then I uninstalled KB4093118, which took a while, but my pc is back to normal.
Now, before I download and install KB4093118 from the catalogue, a couple of (hopefully final!) clarifications:
(1)should I uninstall KB4100480 first as KB4093118 incorporates it? yr response#188137 would imply so, and
(2) which version of KB4093118 for Win 7 do I download? I assume the Win 7 X64 standard. I have usually just used the normal Windows update service, so I’m not familiar with downloading from the catalogue.

GeoffB, great progress! (1) Do not install KB4100480. KB4093118 supercedes it. (2) From the catalog choices, do not select embedded or server. That leaves just two plain w7 x86 and x64. You need the one that matches your system type. You can check this by clicking your start button, right clicking computer and select properties. Your system type is displayed there. Download the version that matches.

GeoffB, great progress! (1) Do not install KB4100480. KB4093118 supercedes it. (2) From the catalog choices, do not select embedded or server. That leaves just two plain w7 x86 and x64. You need the one that matches your system type. You can check this by clicking your start button, right clicking computer and select properties. Your system type is displayed there. Download the version that matches.

StruldBrug: I may have been unclear in my previous post. I had already installed KB4100480 in early April. Therefore do I now need to uninstall KB4100480 (as I had to with KB4099950) before downloading and installing KB4093118, because KB4093118 supersedes it?

Further to my #188510 above, I had installed the updated KB 4099950 on 23 April and then installed KB 4093118 Monthly Roll Up earlier today. Should I have uninstalled the KB 4099950 before installing the KB 4093118 as KB 4099950 is now included in KB 4093118? Is this the cause of my System Event Notification problem?

I am Win 7 x 64 Group A – İntel – laptop and as per your advice,installed KB4093118 April Roll-up yesterday -April 28 -.The download and installation went smoothly and have NOT registered any marked slowdowns or any other unpleasantries on the system.Your advice as always most valuable.Thank you.

I decided to get rid of everything I have installed after December 31st, 2017.

Therefore I have uninstalled all Windows OS and IE patches (I did not touch any other patch) that I had installed since January 1st 2018, in order to bring my PC back to December 2017 rollup.

To do so, I uninstalled April monthly rollup, and the system automatically installed the March rollup; then I uninstalled March and the system automatically installed February rollup; so I uninstalled February rollup and that of January was automatically installed by the system; finally I got rid of January rollup and the system came back to the December 2017 monthly rollup patch condition, the one released on December 12, 2017.

I uninstalled ALL other Windows OS patches that have been installed since New Year’s Eve. I also uninstalled KB4100480, very critical patch but included within the latest April rollup.

Then I uninstalled IE patches (KB4089187; KB4096040).

I want to make it clear that I did not touch any patch other than those regarding the OS and IE (like patches regarding Office, .NET, SQL, and so on).

After that, with my PC back to December 31st condition, I started the Windows Update client, which came out with ONE single update at the end of the process: KB4093118, which I have succesfully installed.

Now my machine runs faster and very smoothly. That’s been my experience.

Frangar non flectar

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Very good!
Please be aware that the IE patches are included in the monthly rollups.
But in this case I assume that you installed them just because the other security patches available were not reliable or not secure enough during January – March and the first half of April 2018, which again was very good practice.

11. Run Windows Update – Hid this month’s Security and Quality Roll-up and KB2952664 from the “Important” list, leaving only KB890830 (Apr. MSRT). I also hid all that was offered as “Optional”. I then ran the MSRT update/test. When finished, it showed that there were no updates available for my machine.

Ta dah! All told, updating each machine took about 30 minutes, mostly because of the re-booting. The actual update installations went by quickly.

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MS is forcing updates again! My PC is always set for a metered connection. When I turn on my PC [Win 10 Home x64], I immediately update Windows Defender, then run wushowhide to block everything MS is shoving out. On the second run of wushowhide, I only release selected KB’s; this time 4093110, 4093137, 890830 and 4093120. Then I ran Windows Update. Windows Update had to run overnight to complete and in the morning, 4093110, 4093137 and 890830 had successfully installed but 4093120 had failed. I also noted that blocked KB’s 4049411 & 4033631 were installed! and looking back to 4/23, found that 4023057 had been installed even though it had also been blocked previously. And this version of 4023057 can’t be uninstalled. After several attempts, I was able to successfully uninstall 4049411 & 4033631. Then I went thru the process of removing all the UpgradeAssistant, rempl, usoclient junk and all the associated tasks. The worst part of this whole thing is MS keeps pushing out their upgrades on a PC where Win 10 is not supported by the manufacturer beyond 1607. Why? I can honestly say, after many years in IT, that Windows 10 has been the worst user experience Microsoft has ever created from the Win 7/8 forced upgrade thru today. Going to clear this machine out [it came with Win10] and install Win 7. At least I can control my own destiny there.

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As one who did not roll back to December 2017, here is how I proceeded to update:

Having already installed January and February 2018 Updates, I had installed KB4100480 on April 6 to fix the Total Meltdown vulnerability.

With MS-DEFCON 3 for March, I first installed KB4099950 (which I had downloaded directly from the Catalog on April 8) and then installed KB4088878 (March SO), KB4099467 (for precautionary BSOD measures), and KB4096040 (IE). After rebooting, I checked “Windows Update” and proceeded as usual.

After keeping up with (and sometimes adding my $.02 to) the discussion on KB4099950 protocol, once MS-DEFCON 3 for April was posted, I updated my system this afternoon as follows:

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Thank you @SueW for your well elucidated description – well thought out and helpful! My system is exactly as yours (Win 7 SP1 Home Premium 64-bit; Office 2010) except I’m a Group A person since December. My problem is that I didn’t roll back anything after installing Jan/Feb/Mar rollups, except for KB4099950 – I uninstalled the pre-April 17 version and installed the new one. I had already installed KB4100480 after installing the March rollup. And then a few days ago I installed KB4093118 along with other April office updates. At this point is it bad that I never uninstalled the March rollup before installing April?

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@SueW thank you so much for your reassurance! So glad to know I didn’t mess up anything. I guess it’s a good thing I’m in Group A since I’d have a dickens of a time following along with all prescribed methods of keeping my computer updated!

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Got a bit confused, thanks for the clarification on the microcode. Got it confused with Meldown “mitigation”.

Still have two questions:

1) When Intel says “for use in production” does that exclude every PC not currently in manufacturing coming off the line?

2) What’s the diff between a “mitigation (Meltdown/Total meltdown) in KB patches, and a microcode? Thought it WAS a microcode for Meltdown/Total Meltdown was in the last series of patches…

3) Observation: If MSFT is not going to include a microcode for Spectre, V1 or V2, my tendency is to not install it at all, as Spectre is very hard to implement, I believe. Correct me if wrong.

4) Is installing microcode equivalent to what we used to call “flashing the BIOS”?

Thanks!

Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit ESU, Dell Latitude E6330, Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", Group "Patch List", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations, "Don't auto-check for updates-Full Manual Mode."
--"A committee is the only known form of life that has at least six legs and no brain."

no microcode updates are available from MSFT for other versions of Windows unless you are running any version of Windows 10 (except the 1511 release) AND the Intel CPU is at least a Broadwell or Haswell CPU or later.

also no new intel microcode updates for sandy bridge & ivy bridge CPUs have been added yet by MS until later this year.

you must wait for these new microcode updates to be available (either as a new BIOS/firmware update from the PC/OEM manufacturer or a new MS update, which you will have to search on the MS Update Catalog site for it); these take time to make

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I have sticky notes all over the place. My plan, and thanks “anonymous” for your quick reply on a method to this madness. I am a Win7, Home user Spk1, 64bit, Intel, Group B, never went beyond Dec 2017 with updates. Had WU set to notify me when updates were available but not to download or install, let me choose.

The plan – I’ve provided a screenshot with this post to show anyone interested in how my WU list looks as of today April 29. I will hide only the two Win7 64bit updates noted below
1 – Hide 2018-01, Security and Quality Rollup 4055532, and also hide the snoop 2952664. Bypass anything to do with March from the catalogue are my thoughts.
2 – Go to MS Catalogue and download/install Jan 2018 Security Only (4056897) REBOOT
3 – Go to MS Catalogue and download/install Feb 2018 Security Only (4074587) REBOOT
3 – Install April Security and Quality Rollup (4093118)
4 – Install MSRT (890830)

Done? Hope so. Before I step into this it’s much appreciated if someone could give me their opinion of the updates and sequence listed above. Thanks.

Attachments:

You made a later post that indicates that you may have done what you’ve described in this one, so sorry if this reply is too late for some purposes.

You say you’re Group B, but if you’ve just installed 4093118 (April Security and Quality Rollup), you’ve moved yourself to Group A (and let Microsoft install all the snooping stuff that Group B-ers hope to avoid).

If that’s what you’ve done, it may be that you can move back to Group B by uninstalling 4093118 and then following the Group-B-appropriate steps for March and April, but I don’t know that there aren’t some complications with trying to move back to Group B after you’ve let Microsoft install a Group A update. So I’d say don’t try to do that (assuming you want to) until you’ve asked for more advice on that subject and heard back from one or more Loungers with more expertise than I can offer you in that department.

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Hello Willygirl, It looks like Byteme’s comments are right. You went from Group B to A by installing the 4093118. If that is what you wanted to do then OK. But if you wanted to stay in Group B, you should uninstall the 4093118 and look in your history of installed updates and see if any unwanted ones (per PKcano and Woody’s people) are there and uninstall them too.

Once done reboot and go get new downloads of March and Aprils security only updates and the April cumulative update for IE11. I did not see any clear cut answers if 4099950 was in the 4093108 SO updates, so I did it.

Again review #188364

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I’ll just leave everything as is, the PC and lap are both running good after downloading/installing according to my plan as posted. Must have been confused about the Group A/B thing, sorry. So I should have installed the Security Only update for April instead of the whole kit and kaboodle? I avoided March altogether. If I crash and burn there’s always Mac. Thank you so much for the advice, I’ll hang on by a wing and a prayer. I’ll be back for next month’s Lounge posts. Typewriters for journalists like myself and messaging via paper airplanes never had these issues, haha. Y’all are great thanks again.

Win7 SP1 Home x64, lone wolf and free as a bird, MacOS / Chromebook

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I’m a stubborn Group B-er, but I have a friend who I guide through the Group B process each month, and I told her I wasn’t of a mind to discourage her from switching to Group A if she was so inclined. Being in Group A puts you in very good company, including the vast majority of both Win7 and Win10 users (as far as the snooping is concerned).

If you’re looking for ways to stay Group A but cut down on the snooping, you might want to give this Lounge thread a look:

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Thanks “byteme” for the reply and the link. I hadn’t updated since Dec 2017, with my settings on “notify me of updates but don’t download/install, let me choose”. On Apr. 29 I went to the MS catalogue downloaded and installed just the SO for Jan/Feb, next was April Security/Quality Roll-up 4093118 from my WU list and the MSRT 890830, hid the snoop update 2952664 before downloading anything. The confusion on your end may be that I originally posted a screenshot in my post #188642 of everything in my WU list prior to hiding any unwanted updates as noted. When I was in the MS catalogue, I bypassed March completely. The PC and laptop are running great. Thank you so much for your replies! And that’s very thoughtful of you to help others. That’s what the Lounge does best.

And again, just in case you’re at all unclear about the consequences, installing 4093118 has moved you to Group A, by which I mean that 4093118 wasn’t a “security only” (or April only) update, but instead was a massive (219 MB) cumulative update that installed everything that’s been in all the monthly Windows default “Security Monthly Quality Rollups” for the past many months — including most (or maybe more like all) of the telemetry/snooping and other stuff that the Group B-ers have been avoiding by skipping those updates and installing the “security only” updates instead. In other words, because 4093118 is *cumulative*, your Win7 is now in the same state that it would be if you’d been Group A all along, and consistently installing the rollups from Windows Update.

If that bothers you, and you want to go back to being Group B, that may be possible (I don’t know for sure), but it would involve (at a minimum) uninstalling 4093118 and then doing the Group B installs for March and April. But as I noted before, there may be reasons that reverting from Group A to Group B is more complicated than that (or not really possible) for some reason, so I’d ask for further guidance from somebody who knows more than I do before you try.

[ADDED: In particular, I suspect (not positive) that uninstalling just 4093118 won’t uninstall all the pre-April updates that were also just installed on your PC because 4093118 is cumulative.]

As a final note, if you end up *not* undoing what you’ve just done (with 4093118), I suspect it may not make much sense for you to go to the trouble of installing the “security only” msu’s for May and future months (in place of the cumulative “Security Monthly Quality Rollups” that show up in Windows Update). Instead, just follow Woody’s Group A instructions from here on out (when he gives the all-clear each month).

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Well I’m feeling pretty much in a “duh” state of mind right now, laughing at myself at the same time. Thank you “byteme”. I’ll be in Group A and follow Woody’s advice on a monthly now. Not going to even try to turn back. My brother’s been doing auto updates on his Win7 all along and has never had a problem, but I didn’t want to take chances since back in December, hahaha, guess I messed up. Thanks for taking the time to explain all this. I’ll be back for the May “Group A” Woody guidance. It shouldn’t be this crazy, but … the whole world’s gone mad. Take care, you’re the best

Win7 SP1 Home x64, lone wolf and free as a bird, MacOS / Chromebook

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Correction to my earlier post #188599: KB4023057 can be uninstalled from the Program & Features list…not the Installed Updates list [even though it shows up there].
Beware that when you uninstall one version of the “remediation program” with KB4023057, Programs & Features will show it a second time, after a reboot, under a different name. You’ll have to remove the second version also to get rid of it [hopefully] completely.
Will continue checking, especially over the next few days with 1803 due for release.

It shouldn’t be this difficult!

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Ok. It’s all up to snuff. No issues with either device on the plan I used initially under #188642 above, suspected it might be a Norton thing. The AV detected a problem with my sharing network when trying to download the first update so I shut everything down except the PC and it downloaded/installed perfectly. That’s just a guess and maybe ridiculous but the good part is I’m up and running and feeling secure regardless of what popped in to stir up the pot. Thank you to everyone who posted with possible solutions covering all the different scenarios, it’s a relief to be back in the saddle with updates again.

Hi. Sorry, I read Woody’s article, but I’m still confused. I’d uninstalled my Jan & Feb 2018 security only updates per Patch Lady’s advice to roll back Windows 7 pc’s to Dec. 2017 to protect against buggy patches and Total Meltdown. The only updates installed on my pc after Dec. 2017 is a .Net Frame Update, IE cumulative updates thru March, and office updates thru March. I didn’t install any other updates that came out in between.

Is it safe now to install all the 2018 Security Only updates, and should I follow the installation procedure as noted in fl’s post #188586. Or is it better to only install April IE update, and wait for the May updates? Thanks in advance for any help.

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Hi Elly, I wanted to follow-up on my post #188753. I did my installation according to your directions, and everything went fine. (Sigh of relief!) But, I installed one thing out of order. I installed KB4099950 (the .msu file) before the security and IE 11 updates. But I missed the KB4099950 (pciclearstalecache… .exe file), and I didn’t run it until after all the other updates were installed and I rebooted. Am I ok? Thanks in advance!
PS: After I installed my other WU, KB3177467 showed up as a checked important update. Do I need this? (I don’t ever plan on W10).

If that .exe file was in the same folder as the 4099950 msu (e.g., if both files were on your Desktop) at the time you ran the msu, then the msu ran the .exe file. And I think it’s unlikely that the fact that you ran the .exe file a second time later is going to have caused any problem.

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When downloading KB4099950 from the catalog, the download had two links, one for each file, which I originally didn’t see. So I downloaded/installed the .msu file only. (I downloaded all my files first, and installed them together later. As I’d rolled back to Dec. 2017 previously, I had a list to do.)

After I finished installing updates, I used Elly’s directions for a final check I hadn’t missed anything; and caught she said “It (KB4099950) comes with two files, an .exe, and a .msu”. And, “I saw a brief black cmd window”. I went back and saw the 2nd link; then downloaded and ran the .exe file. But, the .exe file was done alone after all other updates. It did flash a cmd window this time.

So, is this ok? Or do I need to uninstall and re-install KB4099950? And would this necessitate uninstalling any of the Jan. thru April Security updates so everything is installed in the proper order? Thanks!

I came upon a Microsoft article that shows I’m not crazy — many others get the Stop Error OxAB intermittendly. For your reading pleasure 🙂 I have the link below plus a possible explanation that I am including in case someone understands it better than I do! If you have the patience to read through all the comments, I think they are saying that the April Rollup does not have the fix? I’ll leave this to greater minds than mine.

“All of the files in KB4099467 are replaced with newer versions in the April 2018 rollup. I’ve tried every possible configuration of April roll up on/off, March roll up on/off, KB4099467 on/off, etc. and the only stable configuration is March, April and KB4099467 patches off.”(bolding mine).

Which matches your experience completely, right?

“Microsoft actually released a patch which causes the exact issue it was intended to correct.”

Seemed to summarize what was going on… although this was reporting on servers only, it may well apply to other versions. Can’t say for sure, but it seems logical. The personal computing bunch don’t have the same access for having problems addressed, the standard answer being to install W10 rather than fix Windows 7.

People were encouraged to run various logs and upload them so Microsoft could problem solve, but so far they haven’t posted what the specific bug might be, other than relating it to the more recent versions of Win32k.sys. They, too, were looking at possible antivirus conflict, but that seemed to be ruled out by the variety of antivirus being used on affected machines. Also there isn’t a fix, other than not installing the offending patches.

Good for you for finding others in a similar situation… there is strength in numbers…

I’m hoping they find the bug and fix it, and you will be able to get back to patching.

Smart sleuthing…

Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter

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Thanks so much Elly for your prompt response and for wading through the link. You always make me feel better! I agree with everything you are saying. So far today and yesterday I have not received the BSOD. However, I’m thinking that rather than using “log off” I will use “switch user” or “sleep” — do you think that by not completely logging off this would solve the problem? Hubby uses the computer so we have to switch between us.

P.S. – I was glad to see that all the people in the article also had only intermittent problems because that was the part that drove me crazy — I would mention to everyone that I patched and all was well — and then I would get the BSOD and have to eat my words.

I feel now that I understand what this is — and I am content to leave the April Rollup in place — I can stop my “sleuthing” (they don’t call me Columbo for nothing –Just one more question!).

However, I’m thinking that rather than using “log off” I will use “switch user” or “sleep” — do you think that by not completely logging off this would solve the problem? Hubby uses the computer so we have to switch between us.

@Peacelady, that is the problem with being non-techy. I remember this having been discussed elsewhere regarding the best general way to handle, and can’t remember what to do. I tend to log off only when I have to reboot for updates, or there is a local power failure… and I don’t share with anyone, so no experience with ‘switch user’ either.

Maybe someone else has an answer to this?

(((Hugs back)))

Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter

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Yes- I have pain, tremor, and mobility issues, and so nap more than sleep, and use the computer to distract from discomfort, and enjoy a larger life. It is more convenient to turn off the internet and keep my other programs running and open, and have them ready to reach for, than have to log on/off. It is one of the concessions I make for myself because of the disability and inconvenience. Just logging into this site requires multiple tries for me to get it right… and there are times I’ve had to have my daughter do it for me. She doesn’t need to be called to help me log into my own computer at 4 AM! I’m not recommending it to others, but has worked for me for a year or so. I set it so it doesn’t do anything for 6 hours, just in case… and I’m almost always using it before then. I would love to have a separate laptop for off-line, to know I’m really secure with my data, but with all that’s going on, it is financially out of the question, and I can no longer tolerate sitting at my desktop, which was my always off-line work system. So… not for a tech reason, but for dealing with my realities.

And just so you know… I’m not pitiful. I had/have a full and fulfilling life. But it is why a non-techy like me would become so obsessed with computing this late in life, why I have time to research and answer questions, and why I defend my beloved laptop so passionately! I think it is important to talk about these things as well as the technical aspects of computing, because disabled people (me specifically) can see a huge improvement in their quality of life by utilizing technology. Just as sharing the best way to achieve patching helps computer users in general, the disabled need to share what works so they can access more of the world and enrich their lives. And we shouldn’t be forced to share data in order to use voice features… technology hardware and software capabilities have advanced so it can be locally and privately available (one of my pet peeves). One of the best things about being on this site is I don’t see or experience my disabilities affecting others’ reactions to me- so keep it that way, okay? (Although I don’t mind answering questions, better you know what is real… Think about how to address the person in a disabled body, next time you have the opportunity. Too many people just get embarassed and ignore that there is a real, live, feeling person in the room. Start by making eye contact, smiling, and saying ‘hi’? and go from there).

(((More Hugs)))

Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter

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Elly – You are a beautiful person inside and out. We all have some abilities and disabilities and what is so exceptional about everyone here is the kindness and expertise shared so freely. Your caring and understanding came through in your replies to me — and I think that is why I intuitively always signed off with (((hugs))) — and always will!

Big (((hugs)))

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Hi Elly, Thanks for sharing and giving of yourself to us all. I myself have a neuromuscular disorder, which includes pain, weakness and visual issues; and I live alone. I’d be most interested in how you deal with sitting at the computer for long periods… I find it so difficult. Even just reading the info here (especially of late!), my body wears out. I find computers very interesting, but am light years behind everyone else. I’m so thankful for you and everyone else that helps here. If you ever do a forum with computer tips for disabled persons, I’d be interested. Computers and tech do open up the world, and are so much easier to use than phones and tablets… at least for me. 🙂

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@Elly: You do a fantastic job with all of the information you provide to all of us, who appreciate it very, very much! Just wanted to provide you with a “personal” thank you. I know that everyone is grateful for all of the information you share with the rest of us! 🙂

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Re: Thanks to all, results of my Windows 7 April patching, and a question.

Background: I have always been in Group A, have never installed anything from the catalog, have never installed monthly previews, installed the January and February rollups but not the March rollup, and installed KB4099950 before April 17.

April patching: Yesterday I uninstalled KB4099950, using Windows Update installed KB4093118, and then rebooted. pci.sys shows up in six locations. In three locations, including c:\windows\system32\drivers, the version number is 6.1.7601.24056. I then installed Windows Defender updates, the Malicious Software Removal Tool, and various Office updates. All seems to be working quite normally.

Question: Although I uninstalled it and it no longer shows up in start>control panel>programs>view installed updates, KB4099950 still shows up as installed on April 10, the date I originally installed it, in the Windows Update history. Does the Windows Update history typically not indicate that an update has been uninstalled even it has been?

I guess I have been a very lucky Windows 7 user. Prior to uninstalling KB4099950 yesterday I had never before uninstalled a Windows update which is why I wasn’t quite sure how or if Windows Update would show an uninstallation.

I spoke too soon! I logged off then logged back on, and the ‘failed to connect to notification service’ came back up. I thought the problem had been solved by the download and install of KB4093118. The pci.sys file had updated, so one small victory there.

I tried the netsh winsock reset, to see if that would work, but no luck there either.

At the moment I’m toying with the idea of uninstalling KB4093118 altogether, but given the threats out there, I’m not keen to do it.

GeoffB, sorry to hear this. I’m down to about one last direct idea. Check your installed updates for KB4093113, a preview. If its installed, then uninstall it and uninstall KB4093118. Restart and reinstall the KB4093118 msu. Restart and see if the service connect error persists. If the preview isn’t installed and if you can stand the annoyance for a few days, wait for the May rollup, due next Tuesday. Otherwise, uninstall KB4093118.
It would be good if you checked your system files. Two tools, I prefer, can be found at MajorGeeks.
SFC Utility, run with admin privelege, will run sfc /scannow and produce a copy the CBSlog as a txt file on your desktop. http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/sfc_utility.html
SFCFix scans the CBSlog for just the errors. It produces a txt file in the directory, you ran it from, so desktop is best. http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/sfcfix.html

First, some information.
The Rollup patches are composed of three parts non-security updates, security updates, and IE11 Cumulative updates. By following Group B (installing security-only and IE11 cumulative) you are installing 2/3 of the Rollup. If you install the Rollup, there is no need to install the security-only and IE11 patches.
Also, the Rollups are CUMULATIVE, which means they contain all the previous Rollups.

If you follow Group A
+ KB4099950 – NIC fix is bundled with KB4093118 – Apr 2018 – monthly rollup
+ Since the IE11 CU is contained in the Rollup, you do not need to install it a second time.
+ If you use Group A, it is better to install through Windows Update b/c the patches bundled with the Rollup are installed in the proper order.
+ If you feel you need KB4099467 – fix for stop error you can manually install it before the reboot.

There is absolutely no need to do both Group B AND Group A patches. Group A patches contain the Group B patches.

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I have 3 computers to update for myself and relatives – two group B and one group A.

Completely forgot about IE being part of monthly rollup.

I also have to guide someone through updating a Group A laptop abroad, and trying to go through windows update has proven to be a nightmare (trying to get them to tell me what’s on screen, etc). They may end up having to use the catalogue version of KB4093118 April 2018 rollup instead.

Can you confirm that the unbootable state for AMD devices fix in KB4073578 is part of the April 2018 monthly rollup KB4093118.

With KB4093118 (April Rollup) you are going to need to download both files (.msu ans .exe) Put them both in the same location (desktop, folder, wherever). Doubleclick on the .msu file, it will execute the .exe in the process of installation. I am going to suggest again, with the Rollups, it is better to install through WU.

Well, I’ve read through everything and don’t find exact instructions for my specific situation (a few were close but no cigar), so I may as well post.

Windows 7×64, Group B. Patched as normal through February. Last month I installed KB4100480 and nothing else—no rollbacks, no other patches, nothing. Everything has run fine as far as I know (which isn’t much).

I gather that the April patches have (mostly?) fixed the March problems, so the obvious plan would be to:
1. Manually install KB4088878 (March SO patch), KB4093108 (April SO patch), and KB4092946 (cumulative IE patch);
2. Reboot once;
3. Run Windows Update to get the MSRT and any Office Security patches.

The main problem with this plan seems to be about KB4099950, which I don’t have and have never installed. There is way too much conflicting information about it, some of which is outdated and some of which only seems to apply to Group A or to people who installed the March patches—or to people who did the rollback—and I’m wondering what on earth it all means to me. Do I still need this patch? (Do I dare ask why?) If so, where in the order should I install it? Do I need to reboot an extra time afterward?

Before you tell me to read Woody’s article and/or look at abbodi86’s instructions, I’ve done both. If I do need KB4099950, I think I can figure out how to install it manually, and it seems that the best option is to do that before any of the SO patches. If that is true (and I think I will need confirmation that it is), do I need to reboot in between? Or, can I make all four manual installs—KB4099950, KB4088878, KB4093108, and KB4092946—and still reboot only once afterward? (As you may have gathered, the less I have to reboot my machine the better, for reasons too complicated to get into here.) And if I’ve got any of this even a little bit wrong, can you please tell me what is right?

I apologize if you’ve given this advice to someone else and I’ve missed it somehow, but I truly didn’t find anyone else in my exact situation. I really don’t want to guess about anything and get it wrong, no matter how small. (And yes, I know we’re now at DEFCON 2, which is a separate issue. Even if it’s too late and I have to wait another month, I’d still like to know the proper thing now.) Thank you for any information you can provide.

I very much appreciate the quick reply. Please forgive my anxiety as I follow up to make sure.

I’ve seen MrBrian and Woody discuss in the “protocol question about KB 4099950” thread that the documentation page you refer to is incorrect, and that KB4088878 does not in fact contain KB4099950. (This may even have been confirmed by “netwarrior20” on reddit, but it’s hard to tell and there wasn’t a definitive resolution.) In that same thread, I’ve seen your posts advising Group B members in situations similar to mine to install KB4099950 before the March SO patch. Did something change in the last 6 days to update that advice?

In no way do I wish to come across as ungrateful. I also realize that this might all be moot since whatever the “NIC problem” is might not even apply to my computer, but I just want to make sure. Thanks again!

It will hurt nothing to also install 4099950.
If you choose to do so, install it immediately before the Mar SO (with no reboot in between), then reboot after the SO installs.

When you download 4099950, you will find two files – .msu and .exe. Put them both in the same place (desktop, a folder, wherever). Double click the .msu – the .exe will be executed by it in the process of installation. You may see a flash of a command prompt when that happens.

When you say “reboot after the SO installs,” do you mean just the March SO (so I would be rebooting twice if I choose to install KB4099950 first) or all three? I can’t tell whether “installs” is a plural noun or a verb referring to just the March SO.

Sorry to keep bugging you, but I can’t afford to assume anything. I apologize for what must seem like unnecessary helplessness.

With respect, it might make sense in this case for OP–both to minimize reboots, and to ensure system files updated by KB4093108 are updated following KB4088878 install prior to reboot–to consider NOT rebooting after installing KB4088878. Suggest OP consider installing as follows:

I have been waiting for the dust to settle before applying these .NET updates but wanted to know if I needed to install both Jan & Feb .NET Rollups or will Feb be okay? I will definitely hold off with .NET 4.7.1. Note: All 3 are checked.

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@PKCano: Thank you for all of the messages you post. I am having a problem receiving ANY notice that there are new messages (or replies) on ANYTHING. It’s like it just “stopped” about may 2nd or 3rd. Has anything changed on how the menu is working compared to how it was previously? Any advice will be most sincerely appreciated, as always, PK. Thank you so much!

Hey Woody thanks for advice, it works well on everything exclude one machine, which was critical for me.
So comp has i3 3210 on Foxconn board. I cant even update 4093108 and 4093118. It fails when reboot and windows repair system downgrades other patch form different months too.
Awkward situation, if be honest.
If somebody can help to figure what is going on, it will be good.

To PKCano:
I am using Kaspersky endpoint in all machines, which is updated to 11th version yesterday. I tried with/without AV, delete dist. folder, scan system, check for drivers if something crashing…nothing…
I was trying install security only updates as always. Now in its in december state.
Wsus even can’t see what exactly installed after 4 times repairment of it.
In which algorithm of installing updates you recommend me for jan, feb, march and faulty april updates on this machine?

Look in your installed updates list. If you installed KB 4099950 before April 17, you need to uninstall it. Then download the latest version from the Catalog. There will be two files, (an .msu and a .exe). Put them in the same location on the PC.

Download the Jan – MAY Security Only Updates and the MAY IE11 Cumulative Update. You can get the direct download links in AKB2000003 on this site. You do not have to reboot after the installations except where indicated.

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